Perception
by LitaOsiris
Summary: Chakotay finds some things are repeating themselves. Is it just a case of déjà vu or is something more sinister going on?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or any of its characters. I make no money from this. It's just for a bit of fun ;)

Notes:

- This is my first long story so I'm quite proud I've managed to stick with it and see it through to its completion :)

- Special thankies to QS who has done such a wonderful job as beta :) My apologies also go to her for having to correct **all** of those mistakes lol

- The story is set in the early seventh season.

Chapter 1

It was late, and a full moon dominated a clear, star-filled sky. He would have stopped to take in the astounding sight if he wasn't running for his life through a jungle wilderness with only the moonlight to guide him. How had things disintegrated so quickly? It just seemed like any other trade mission. All scans had shown the planet wasn't a threat, and even the communication with the trade minister had gone quite well. Unfortunately, before they knew it, they had walked straight into a trap. Shortly after they beamed down, they were surrounded by hostile faces with dangerous intent. They realised their scans had picked up an illusion and this was the reality they were now facing.

Glancing down at the limp form he was carrying, he knew he had little time left. Whatever technology this race had implemented had blocked communications and transport within the area they beamed into. He had no idea how he even managed to escape, let alone with his precious bundle. The sound of weapons fire in the distance made him dispel all negative thought and just focus on one task: get back to the ship. Stopping to shift the weight in his arms, he tried one more time.

"Chakotay to Voyager, do you read me?"

"Go ahead, Commander," came the stoic reply. Bless that Vulcan, he was delighted to finally hear his voice.

"Tuvok, I need an emergency beam out!"

"Standby."

Chakotay looked around cautiously, worried his communication would alert his hunters.

"Strange, we cannot get a reading of your biosigns..."

"Damn it! I thought I was far enough! Tuvok, it was a trap. I need a transport right now! Find a way!"

"Acknowl..."

From the static, Chakotay knew communications had just been disabled once more and didn't bother to waste time trying to contact them again. He had alerted the ship, they knew what was going on and they knew they had to get the away team out of there. He continued on.

As Chakotay continued to evade his captors or executioners (he was sure the latter was the definite possibility), he felt a slight movement in his arms. Convinced he was safe for a few moments, he stopped to check on her. Keeping out of sight and hidden by some bushes, he gently eased her onto the ground. For the first time he realised she was in pretty bad shape. Although the abdominal wound she suffered wasn't bleeding out, he was fairly certain it had caused severe internal damage. She was pale, clammy and breathing in short, quick breaths. As she began to regain consciousness, he could see her facial expression turn into a grimace. It bothered him that he couldn't do anything to relieve her pain, and it bothered him even more that he probably had made her condition worse. He knew, however, that in that moment he didn't have a choice. Looking at her once more, he found her eyes met his.

"Report, Commander."

Her voice was but a whisper, and it obviously took a good deal of effort even for her to say that much.

"I managed to contact Tuvok, albeit briefly. He knows we need an immediate transport, but they're obviously having a problem trying to penetrate whatever shield our gracious hosts have managed to deploy. From what I've gathered, it seems to work at blocking communications and transport in a certain area. We just need to focus on staying alive and moving as much as possible. Hopefully at that point we'll manage to get outside the shield and get back to the ship. Now, we need to get moving."

Chakotay moved to pick her up, but she did her best to resist his efforts.

"No, Commander...you need to get moving. Order..."

"Kathryn, I'm not leaving you. We're going together, and that's final."

Chakotay moved to pick Kathryn up again and noted there was no resistance. Looking at her face, he saw she had lost consciousness once more. After checking for a pulse and finding one with relief, he stood up and continued moving. Unfortunately, no matter what way he turned he could see flashlights and hear voices in the distance all around him. He knew it was only a matter of time before they got to them and he was thankful they had at least made it this far. Convinced and dejected that he could go no further, he took cover in the best concealed area he could immediately reach. However, it was only a few more mere minutes when they were surrounded by armed guards with cloaked faces, only their dark green eyes visible. Chakotay was forced to his knees and restrained by two guards on either side. Kathryn was dragged out to lay just a few metres away in front of him, her limp body not objecting to the movement. Their leader stepped forward with a low chuckle.

"Very good, Commander. You've been one of the very few that have managed to avoid our welcoming party. We do enjoy when we get to have fun with our guests, but you have effectively ruined our plans with your little communication to warn your ship."

The leader knelt down beside Kathryn and took out his dagger. Upon spotting the blade, Chakotay knew exactly what was going to happen and began struggling to free himself. The guards kept their hold and he was forced to watch the next horrifying event as the leader raised his dagger above Kathryn.

"No! Tell me what you want from us!"

The leader simply smiled. "I'm afraid we have no use for you anymore."

As quickly as it had happened, Chakotay managed to break free, set to kill the leader for what he had just done, only to feel a burning sensation in his back with a force that sent him hard into the ground. He felt pain immediately, and his chest began to feel quite tight. As he gasped for breath, he could feel blood being sucked into his lungs and his throat as he quickly began to cough up the vile liquid, desperate to get life into his body. Chakotay kept his eyes on the leader as he removed his dagger from Kathryn's chest, angry with himself for not waiting for a better opportunity. Taking a quick glance at his captain, he was certain she was dead and also certain he'd be joining her soon. Moving his stare back to the leader, he watched him stand over him and draw his phaser to his head.

"Better luck next time, Commander."

With that, Chakotay knew nothing.

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

_See the first chapter for disclaimer and notes._

Chapter 2

Chakotay bolted straight up in his bed and looked around to find the familiar walls of his quarters. Breathing heavily and touching everything within his reach, he eventually reasoned with himself that he was indeed on Voyager. To be fully sure, he had to check one more thing.

"Computer, locate Captain Janeway."

"Captain Janeway is in her quarters."

Moving to sit on the edge of his bed, Chakotay held his head in his hands and sighed. This was yet another night in which he had a dream about Kathryn and himself dying and yet another day in which he felt exhausted. It always seemed to be the same, except he could never remember the details leading up to the fateful event. Even now, he was starting to forget bits and pieces of what happened, but he was always left with a painful memory of seeing Kathryn be killed. It was feeling like a routine that would never end, and Chakotay was tiring of it. Even the same objects that were on his nightstand were knocked over to the floor, so this time he decided to leave them there. He was fed up picking them up, anyways.

"Computer, what time is it?"

"0534 hours."

Figuring there was no point in trying to sleep, Chakotay decided to get ready for his shift.

* * *

Arriving at the Mess Hall for breakfast, Chakotay was greeted by Tom, B'Elanna and Harry. He got a tray of Neelix's latest concoction of what appeared to be breakfast and sat down to join them. He caught them all scrutinising his appearance but only one vocalised their thoughts.

"Chakotay, you look like hell. How much sleep did you get?"

Chakotay rubbed his eyes and looked at B'Elanna.

"Thanks, Torres. I woke up earlier than usual, but at the same time I went to bed at a decent enough hour. Just lately, every night I've been having the same dream..."

"One of 'those' dreams, Commander?" Tom quipped, followed by a wink.

The next thing he felt was B'Elanna's elbow in his side. "Ow!" He looked at her with a mock hurt face, but she just rolled her eyes.

"Don't interrupt. Continue Chakotay".

"To answer your question Paris, no, it wasn't one of 'those' dreams. It was more like a nightmare."

Tom decided to be constructive this time. "What was it about?"

Chakotay prodded the purple goop that was supposed to be his breakfast.

"I'd rather not say, but I just know that I stay asleep all night only to be woken abruptly by my dream, and I'm left feeling exhausted."

"Maybe you should drop by Sickbay later on and have the doc check you out. He could give you something to help you have a good night's sleep." Chakotay just nodded and stood up.

"Maybe I will. I think I'll pass on breakfast, I have a lot of work to do anyway."

* * *

The trip to the Bridge was even more nerve-wracking than usual. Chakotay couldn't help but feel trepidation at seeing Kathryn again, especially when the last vivid image he had in his mind involved her lying on the ground, cold and lifeless. He knew he'd had dreams like this before, so why he felt like this now was a mystery to him. Normally, he could shake off the feelings the dream caused by the time he left his quarters, but it was somehow different today.

The turbolift doors opened, and he could see Kathryn's auburn hair just visible from over her chair. He took a deep breath and stepped out onto the Bridge. As he walked around to his chair, he could gradually see more and more of her. There she sat, legs crossed, a PADD in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, equally engrossed in both things she held. He smiled briefly and moved to sit down.

"Good morning, Captain."

Kathryn smiled but didn't lift her eyes. "Good morning, just give me a few more..." she trailed off. When she finished, she put down the PADD. "...Minutes." At that point, she raised her eyes to him, and her expression immediately changed to one of concern. She leaned towards him and lowered her voice.

"Chakotay, are you all right?"

"I'm fine; I've just been having a rough few nights. Honestly, do I really look that bad?" he asked with a light tone in his voice.

She smiled. "Well, you have looked better".

"Actually Kathryn, I'm just checking in. I have a list of appointments with the crew in my office all day today." Chakotay began checking his console.

"Have fun. I won't tell you to see the doctor as I probably wouldn't take your advice if the situation were reversed; however, I'm sure you have more sense than I do."

"Probably wouldn't?"

"I'm giving you a slim chance that you might catch me on a really bad day."

"Okay, so when the replicators are offline, the various supplies of alien coffee-like coffee are gone and even only when Neelix's 'better than coffee' substitute runs out, I'll catch you on a bad day?"

Kathryn laughed and took a sip from her cup.

"I'm not sure about the last one, but you may come close." Chakotay smiled warmly at her and continued entering commands into his console.

"Alright, I better get down to these appointments. Dinner later? 1900?"

"Sure. Are you cooking, or do you want an excuse to get sent to Sickbay?"

"I think I'll play it safe: my quarters, then. You bring the wine."

Chakotay closed off his terminal and stood up.

"I'll see you then."

He nodded in return and walked to the turbolift. Smiling to himself, he realised he felt a lot better.

TBC...


	3. Chapter 3

_See the first chapter for disclaimer and notes._

Chapter 3

Chakotay leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. It had been a long day, but he managed to get through the crew's issues with few problems. After checking the chronometer and finding out it was only 1730 hours, he realised he had finished earlier than expected and so allowed himself to indulge in some rest. Even after switching to coffee in the early afternoon, he didn't feel any more alert. Maybe he would go and see the doctor after all.

"Senior staff, report to the Conference Room."

Or not. Recent scans had shown there weren't any habitable planets in the system they were passing through, so he briefly wondered what Kathryn had discovered that was so urgent. He figured he'd find out soon enough once he managed to drag himself out of his chair.

* * *

Upon entering the Conference Room, Chakotay realised he was the last one to arrive and apologised for delaying everyone. Once he was seated, Kathryn began the meeting.

"Now that we're all here, I'll just get right to the point. We're currently in orbit of Exoran."

Seven raised an eyebrow. "We detected no life forms in this system."

"I know. This planet was cloaked and only appeared on our sensors the moment we were almost right on top of it. We have made first contact, and the Exorans seem like a hospitable species. They've offered to trade with us and help in any way that they can. The trade list includes various supplies, but most importantly, deuterium. We can never have too much in reserve."

Chakotay couldn't help but feel a red alert going off in the back of his head.

"Captain, why did they de-cloak themselves to us?"

"They claimed they heard of Voyager through their own travels and deemed us not to be a threat to them."

"Do you trust their intentions?" Kathryn almost looked resigned to him.

"I always hold a certain level of scepticism when it comes to meeting new races, but the fact is that we need supplies now, and we can't afford to put off engaging new races just because they 'might' have an ulterior motive. If that was the case, we would have never made it out of Kazon space."

"Captain, I can't help but feel that going down to that planet will be a mistake."

Chakotay continued to hold her gaze until the silence was broken.

"Commander, if I may," Tuvok chimed in from across the table. "My scans have indicated that the Exorans are quite similar to a Federation-like society of thirty years ago. They seem to be on a lower technological level than us but clearly have a far greater understanding of cloaking technology. That is obviously their primary defense, however. While we would not have known about the Exorans if they didn't reveal themselves to us, once exposed, their cloaking frequency is easy to detect. I believe I can disrupt it completely by emitting a modified tachyon pulse, should the need arise."

"Are there any further objections?" Kathryn asked while turning her attention around the room.

When none were given, Kathryn returned her attention back to Chakotay.

"Commander, you and I will be conducting the trade mission. Ayala and Meyer will be joining us. We will be meeting with Trade Minister Benarin upon our arrival. We're scheduled to meet at 1830 hours." She faced around again to the room. "Dismissed, except for the Commander."

As everyone got up and left, both Kathryn and Chakotay remained in their seats and in silence until the door to the room hissed shut. Kathryn turned to him.

"Why do you firmly believe this is a mistake?"

"It's just a gut feeling telling me there's more going on here than meets the eye."

"Do you think we should cancel the trade?"

"I think you're right and that we need the supplies, but I still can't help the bad feeling I have." He sighed. "Maybe I'm just on edge because I'm tired. We've done a lot of first contacts, and most of them turned out to be genuine. Suddenly becoming xenophobic won't limit our risks in the Delta Quadrant."

Kathryn leaned over to him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Are you sure you're all right?"

Chakotay smiled back at her.

"I'm fine. I'll go to Sickbay as soon as we get back and see what the doctor can do about giving me a good night's sleep. I know that's all I need."

"Sorry about dinner, by the way," she added.

"Don't worry about it. There's always tomorrow."

* * *

The away team beamed down to Exoran and found themselves in the middle of a modern complex that was about the size of a small city. Through the setting sun, Chakotay could make out a vast wilderness that seemed to surround the complex on all sides. Looking around, he noticed the lights being turned on in the various buildings but couldn't see any people on the streets. Before he could process anything else, they were greeted by a small man in a most exuberant manner.

"Ah Captain Janeway! So good to meet you in person!"

Crossing his arms in front of his chest and bowing, Kathryn took her cue and mimicked his actions.

"Minister Benarin, likewise. Let me introduce you to members of my crew." She indicated to each of them as she said their names. "This is Commander Chakotay, Lieutenant Ayala and Ensign Meyer."

Benarin made his greeting gesture once more, so the three men returned the welcome. Listening to Kathryn continue on with her diplomacy act, Chakotay couldn't help but take stock of Benarin. He was short, certainly smaller than Kathryn, with facial ridges around the curve of his face. Apart from that, he could easily pass for human. He had nothing else that stood out, not even his hair or his eyes, which Chakotay had expected to be green, for some reason. Personality wise, he was the most energetic being Chakotay had ever met as he seemed to be enthusiastic about everything and anything.

"If you just follow me in here, we can begin our trade meeting!"

As they entered the building, a darkened figure watched from the distance.

TBC...


	4. Chapter 4

_See the first chapter for disclaimer and notes._

Chapter 4

Proceeding through the structure, Benarin eventually led them through to what Chakotay surmised was the main room of the building. They were led into the room, which was dimly lit and had four entrances: all manual doors, including the one they entered through. About the size of a ballroom, it contained long tables on three sides with chairs on the outer area facing into the centre. The table at the far end was slightly more raised than the ones on each side. The room was surrounded by large marble columns with intertwining marble walls that were the same height as the side tables. Benarin led them directly into the centre.

The remaining doors creaked open to reveal hooded figures that entered the room on both sides in single file. They each took a seat, in order of the side tables up to the raised one, but left the chair in the middle absent. The members of the away team were looking in various patterns to the new occupants, back to their team, to Benarin and then back to the occupants again. They were suddenly startled by a voice coming from the door they had entered.

"Captain Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager."

The away team all turned to face their latest guest. In typical fashion, he, too, was wearing a dark cloak like the others, leaving his face in shadow.

"I am Zelam, prime minister and council leader of Exoran." He began moving towards his seat at the centre of the raised table. "I believe you wish to trade with us."

Kathryn stepped forward. "Yes, that is correct."

Zelam took his seat at the top of the raised table and lowered his hood, revealing a set of emerald eyes. Chakotay instantly went rigid upon seeing the face of the council leader. He was now sure they were in certain danger. It was immediately clear that Benarin was not the same race as Zelam as his facial ridges were contained as a neat vertical line on his forehead, across his eyebrows and down his chin onto his throat.

Smoothing his raven hair back into place, Zelam grinned. Chakotay signalled Ayala, who stood directly behind Kathryn. Ayala nodded back at Chakotay, cautious about the situation.

"Very good," he said as he gestured to Benarin. "Thank you, Benarin, you may leave."

Benarin simply bowed his head and walked out the door. Kathryn watched him leave and then turned to Zelam.

"Is Benarin not your trade minister?"

"He is; he establishes trade contacts for us, but the actual negotiations happen here with the council. We find he is better suited for initial talks and welcoming guests as we have more of a professional, perhaps cold nature when it comes to doing business. Some races have walked away because of it, others...well, I'm rambling on. Let's begin discussions shall we?"

Chakotay observed Kathryn in that moment. It was obvious she didn't like the situation any more than he did, but she was better willing to put up with it for the sake of the ship.

"Of course, Minister. I take it you were informed of what we require and what we can offer?"

Zelam nodded. "Yes, one of our main interests is in your star charts. We are explorers like yourselves, even though it may not appear that way," he said with a grin. "Believe it or not, some of us have even encountered you before, not myself personally, though."

Upon seeing the puzzled expression on Kathryn's face, Zelam quickly added, "Don't worry, Captain, we were well hidden so you wouldn't have known it was us. However, from these very brief meetings we know you are not being completely truthful about what you can provide us with. I must ask why your technology isn't on offer?"

"It's part of our Prime Directive, one of the Federation's most guiding principles. We are not allowed to help develop a culture if it would give them an unfair advantage over others."

"What a shame. Really, it's the only other thing that we want. We would be quite happy to trade our cloaking technology with you in return."

"I've already told you, Minister, I cannot trade our technology."

"So you won't agree to trade your transporter technology and star charts for everything that you require on your list and more?"

"Minister, that's not an option, and if that's the only one you have, then we have nothing more to discuss."

As Kathryn turned around to proceed to the door, Chakotay turned with her. They were greeted with the sight of Meyer being knocked back to the floor by an energy blast, a deep wound now visible on his forehead. It was clear he was dead. Chakotay didn't even think about it; he grabbed Kathryn by the arm, covered her and began running for the exit. Ayala provided cover for them as Zelam and the hooded figures took cover behind the tables. As all three made it through the doorway, they could hear Zelam's menacing voice echo from the room as they ran.

"Don't think you'll get off this planet without giving us what we want!"

* * *

Once they were outside the building, they each tried their commbadges with only static being their response.

"Captain, what about Meyer?" Ayala queried.

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant, but he was shot directly in the head. Our priority is to contact the ship and keep ourselves alive."

Both men could hear the regret in her voice but knew they would have gotten themselves killed or captured if they had stayed back in the room. Continuing on running with their phasers drawn, they eventually reasoned the best way to hide until they could get away from the planet was to head into the wilderness.

"Commander, sometimes I hate when you're right," Kathryn whispered to him.

Chakotay kept his voice low, but reassuring.

"Don't worry, Captain, we'll get out of this."

He felt like he was lying to her, but from what he could remember from his dream, he was carrying her at this point and Ayala was not with them. He had to hope.

* * *

About twenty minutes later, the away team were still on the move, gaining in altitude. They had taken turns in trying to contact the ship with each minute that passed, but every time they received a dead line. It was now Kathryn's turn.

"Janeway to Voyager, do you read me?"

"Go ahead, Captain," came the calm voice of Tuvok.

"Commander, it was a ruse. Beam us out of here, immediately!"

"Standby."

The away team had stopped in those few moments and took cover as best they could.

"Captain, we are having difficulty locking onto you. It appears to be another tactic from the Exorans that we did not detect before. Ensign Kim is working on a way around it as we speak. It is most strange, as before your hail Ensign Kim had reported to have a lock on all of you without problem."

"Yes, well the Exorans seem to have that smoke and mirror quality. How long do you estimate?"

Harry's voice came on the line.

"I would say around ten minutes, Captain; however, there may be a problem. I may be only able to transport you one by one with a couple of minutes interval in between each transport."

"Very well, Ensign, transport us in the order of Lieutenant Ayala, Commander Chakotay..." Kathryn put her hand up to stop Chakotay from protesting, "...and then myself. Ensign Meyer was fatally shot in our encounter with the Exorans. Find a way to beam him up after the rest of us are on board."

"Aye, Captain."

"Janeway out."

She turned her attention to both men, not addressing either in particular. "Report."

Tricorder in hand, Ayala began to recite his observations during the contact.

"There seems to be large groups of Exorans coming from both the south and west areas where their complex is. There's very few coming from the north and the east, which will lead to higher ground."

"They could be trying to force us to go east," Chakotay chimed in. "We don't know the extent of what the Exorans have in their bag of tricks since they were able to fool Voyager's sensors a second time. They could be lying in wait, and we wouldn't know it."

Ayala continued. "They could also be fooling our readings. I can't see any movement coming from the north, but my tricorder says they're there."

Kathryn pinched the bridge of her nose.

"If altitude does indeed affect their technology, it would be safe to assume they're headed for higher ground first to search for us. Unfortunately, we have to stay up here. We'll head in a north-east direction so we'll remain on the same elevation and hopefully throw them off for a while. Use your eyes and keep your ears open. They may be better in detecting our gracious hosts than our tricorders. Let's go."

* * *

Continuing to elude the Exorans was proving a challenge. Although predominately heading in a north-east direction, the away team was forced to change their course a number of times, including heading east, west and sometimes even back the way they came. Their main goal was to simply keep away from their enemy for as long as possible. Finally, the call from Voyager came.

"Voyager to away team."

Kathryn responded. "Go ahead, Mister Kim."

"Lieutenant Ayala, standby for transport."

Stopping for the transport, Chakotay continued to watch their surroundings carefully. Ayala handed his phaser to Kathryn, which she clipped to her side with a nod before he shimmered out of view.

"Captain, we have him."

"Good work, Harry. Contact us if you find a quicker way to get us the hell out of here. Janeway out."

Chakotay immediately turned to Kathryn in a dash, grabbed her by the arm and set off running. Kathryn rapidly adjusted her pace just in time for both of them to see an energy blast ignite a tree in the place where they'd just been standing.

"I CAN SEE YOU!" came the chilling, amplified voice of Zelam.

Chakotay knew they had just given away their position with the transporter beam, and he greatly feared leaving Kathryn by herself when it was his turn to go. Nevertheless, she was the captain, she had given an order, and he would follow it. This was her duty and something she had to do.

TBC...


	5. Chapter 5

_See the first chapter for disclaimer and notes._

Chapter 5

There were beams of light coming through the trees and bushes all around them. They were still far in the distance, but Chakotay felt certain that it wouldn't be long until they were surrounded. Since Chakotay knew he would be leaving in a few moments, he helped Kathryn pick out the best spot available to set up both a defensive and offensive position. The area they eventually found was a rock formation sheltered on two sides with open area in front of it. It was slightly elevated, and there were several boulders in front it which could act as cover. The rocks were all covered in vines and various other shrubberies, which offered some additional camouflage. They both moved behind the boulders and crouched down.

"Voyager to away team."

Chakotay looked at Kathryn and raised his hand to his commbadge.

"Go ahead, Harry."

"Standby for trans..."

He was about to try his commbadge again when, suddenly, a phaser blast shot directly above their heads. Poking his head out slightly, he could see a number of Exoran taking cover behind the trees in front of them.

Although they couldn't see him, they were once again greeted by the annoying, arrogant voice of Zelam.

"'Beam Lieutenant Ayala, Commander Chakotay and then myself'. How touching! In truth, we decided to let one of you go when you made that statement. I bet it gave you a real sense of hope thinking that you were eluding us. Just another one of our games, I'm afraid!" he said with a chuckle before turning more serious and becoming slightly angry.

"The bigger point, however, is that you have once AGAIN ruined our plans."

Kathryn kept her eyes forward but directed her question to Chakotay.

"Do you have any idea what he means by that?"

Zelam continued, "Now I know both of you are behind those rocks. You are surrounded; you have nowhere to go. We can do this the hard way or the easy way. What happens next is up to you."

Chakotay thought about what Kathryn had asked about Zelam's plans. He was so sure he had been here before even though their current situation was different, but he just couldn't get his exhausted mind to figure out what was going on.

"I'm not sure. The main issue is that, no matter what we decide here, it's not going to work in our favour. They know every move we're going to make to try and get off this planet."

"Maybe not every move. Commander, we're going to surrender."

Chakotay looked at her with surprise.

"Captain?"

"That's an order."

Seeing she was quite serious about it and given that there were essentially no other options, he quietly agreed.

"Aye, Captain."

They both threw down their phasers and stepped out from behind the boulder with their hands raised, Chakotay staying ahead of Kathryn. As they stopped, Kathryn stopped next to one of the taller coverings that obscured some of her from view.

The Exorans made their way out with their weapons pointing directly at the away team. Whether these were the same people that had sat in the hall or they were just regular guards, neither Chakotay nor Kathryn had any way of knowing. The Exorans were completely covered up in black clothing, with only their eyes and mouths visible. Only one stepped forward in confident strides. Even though he was dressed the same, there was no doubt of his identity.

"I'm actually a bit disappointed. I honestly believed there would be a standoff with lots of shooting, us eventually winning of course, but then I heard you say the word 'surrender'."

Chakotay turned to look at Kathryn and saw her glance down at her hidden waist. He immediately realised she never threw down Ayala's phaser and watched her move her eyes to the right. Turning back around to face their captors, he lowered his head for a moment and glanced to where she had indicated. He could see an opening where he had just thrown his phaser and he knew then what she was thinking. He waited for her signal.

"This just makes it easier for us, really." He laughed. "Do you know what I find quite amusing?"

He pointed at them in turn to emphasize his next statement.

"The way you both try to protect each other when really you know the efforts will be all a waste in the end. Well come on, come away from there."

Chakotay started moving. Kathryn appeared to trip as she moved from the covering, but Chakotay knew exactly what she was doing. He made his move and dive-rolled for the phaser he had thrown down. He landed beside a tree and saw Kathryn had already begun firing her phaser while making a dash for his position. He continued to provide cover for her, successfully hitting three of Zelam's guards. Zelam had disappeared from view and the remaining guards were busy repositioning themselves behind trees but they weren't his main concern. Eventually, Kathryn made it to him and as soon as they had a clear path they both immediately began running with Chakotay checking behind them every few seconds.

Evading through the trees and watching out for overhanging branches and underlying roots was nothing new to the away team. Doing this while avoiding phaser fire, some of which were only being stopped by trees immediately beside them, had become the new challenge.

Coming to a brief open area, Chakotay emerged first with Kathryn not far behind him. He was stopped when he heard a close proximity phaser blast followed by a cry of pain. When he turned, his heart dropped. Kathryn was on the ground facing away from him, clutching her side. He immediately went over to her, but as soon as his hand made contact with her shoulder, she turned quickly and pushed him away. Her breathing was quick and her words were said through gritted teeth as she moved to sit up. "Go now! They're nearly here!"

"Capt..."

"Don't, Commander," she said as she made it onto her knees. "I'm making it an order. Go!"

Before Chakotay could even react, a figure came through the darkness, grabbed Kathryn and pulled her to her feet.

"How lovely to see you again!" Zelam exclaimed as he raised one hand with a blade to her throat and wrapped the other around her waist to her wound. She cried out as he squeezed her side painfully.

"I see my shot was right on target."

Chakotay took aim with his phaser but he couldn't see any opportunities to fire.

"As for you, you can drop the weapon."

Kathryn shook her head slightly, but when Chakotay looked around he saw the guards had caught up with them and their weapons were trained on him. He knew there was no getting out of the situation, so he tossed the phaser away.

"Really? Lately, you're just no fun..." Zelam sighed. With that, he moved his blade quickly across Kathryn's throat and let her fall to the ground. Even with only the moon as the main source of light, it was clear the ground was quickly becoming coated with the blood emerging from her wound. Chakotay's chest was tight with fear, sadness and anger at what he just witnessed. He kept his eyes focused on Zelam, despite being tortured by the faint gurgling sounds Kathryn was making as she struggled through the last moments of her life. Although desperately wanting to get his hands on him to make him suffer for what he had done, Chakotay still remained in the same position. He knew this was just one big game for the Exorans, particularly Zelam, once they 'ruined their plans', whatever that was. He wasn't about to give them any more satisfaction.

"What? No reaction?" Zelam inquired as he dangled his blood stained blade in front of Chakotay. "No matter. Kill him."

Chakotay closed his eyes and let the darkness take him.

TBC...


	6. Chapter 6

_See the first chapter for disclaimer and notes._

Chapter 6

Chakotay awoke in his quarters. This time he bolted up so quickly he ended up getting out of bed and into a standing position. The manoeuvre was quickly followed by a yelp of pain as he realised he'd managed to stand awkwardly on one of the edges of a hardback book he was reading. As he sat back down and rubbed his foot, he was inundated with terrifying images of a trade mission gone wrong.

"Computer, locate Captain Janeway."

"Captain Janeway is in her quarters."

He sighed and rubbed his eyes. He was absolutely exhausted and had no idea why he continued to have the same nightmare every night. At least he was sure that's what was happening, but he still wasn't certain of all the details. Chakotay looked to the floor, gathered up the items he had once again knocked over and moved them to the table opposite his bed.

"Computer, what time is it?"

"0535 hours."

Chakotay leaned on the table and took a few deep breaths. Eventually he made his way into his washroom, where he hoped a sonic shower would wake him up.

* * *

On entering the Mess Hall, he promptly made his way over to the galley. As Neelix popped up from behind the counter, his cheerful expression immediately changed to serious.

"Commander, you don't look well."

"Good morning, Neelix. Don't worry, I just didn't sleep well."

When Neelix scooped a purple-coloured sludge into a bowl, Chakotay frowned.

"Did we not have this...whatever it is...for breakfast yesterday?"

"No, Commander. Yesterday we had Torillian eggs, and this is a Revilion style oatmeal. If you remember, they enjoyed colourful food."

"How could I forget when I ended up in Sickbay the last time I tried one of their delicacies. Neelix, no offence, but I'll have to pass in the interest of my health."

"No problem, Commander. Unfortunately with us being low on food supplies, I can't offer variety at the moment, so this is all I have for breakfast this morning. However, if you stop by for lunch, I can guarantee you I'll have something more delectable," he said with a smile.

Chakotay very much doubted that, but he smiled, nodded and turned to the replicator.

"Computer, coffee, cream, two sugars."

As he leaned against the bulkhead, waiting for his breakfast to materialise, he soon felt a presence beside him. He turned to see the concerned look of a friend.

"B'Elanna, good morning."

"Chakotay, you look like hell. Are you all right?"

"Am I going to get this all day? I'm just tired, that's all," he answered and then turned to pick up his drink.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

At B'Elanna's continued glare of concern, he acquiesced.

"Look, I'll go to Sickbay later to see if the doctor can help give me a good night's sleep."

He could see she was going to interrupt, so he countered her move.

"After my shift and that's final."

"Okay, but I'll check in with you later to make sure you don't forget, otherwise I'll drag you down there myself."

"Maybe I'll forget so I see you try."

"Very funny."

"I better go. I have a number of meetings with the crew today."

Once Chakotay entered the turbolift, he decided against going to the Bridge. He didn't want anymore attention than he had already received.

* * *

Sitting on his couch, Chakotay wasn't in his office any more than ten minutes when his chime rang. He knew he wasn't due anyone for another fifteen minutes but decided punctuality was better than tardiness plus he would have a longer break between his next sessions.

"Come in."

Expecting Ensign Jenkins, he was greatly surprised to look up and see Kathryn standing with her hands on her hips before him. He didn't have to guess what she wanted, but he decided to play along.

"Captain, what can I do for you?"

"I received an anonymous tip that my first officer currently looks like walking death. Combine this with your message about working in your office all day one would think that you might be avoiding perhaps the only person on this ship who might be able to persuade you to go to Sickbay."

"Torres. She plays dirty."

Kathryn smiled lightly at him.

"Well, this person could have gone straight to the doctor, and believe me, it's worse. By the way, don't think I didn't know that was you last time."

As he held his hands up in mock surrender, she moved to sit beside him on the couch.

"Chakotay, you really don't look well, and I'm quite concerned. I would like you to go to Sickbay and let the doctor examine you. He could make you feel better by tomorrow."

Chakotay could feel his resolve slipping already. He decided this was worse than telling the doctor.

"I have appointments with the crew..."

"...that can be rescheduled for another time. The crew would prefer to see you well."

"I'll go if you agree to dinner later on or tomorrow, depending on what the doctor does to me..."

"Agreed. You know, I thought you would have made that more difficult."

"I guess I'm not well enough to think of better demands. Let's get this over and done with."

* * *

Although Kathryn went back to the Bridge, Chakotay kept his word and went to Sickbay. He arrived to find the doctor studying his monitor in his office.

"Ah, Commander, what can I do for you?"

"I've been having dreams...nightmares the past few nights. I can only ever remember small details, but I'm always shocked awake by it. I wake up feeling completely exhausted as if I haven't gotten any sleep in the last several days, but I don't understand how that could be as I remember going to bed early enough last night. I don't remember waking up during the night, either."

"Hmmm, strange. My readings suggest you've almost been awake for the last four days."

"How is that possible? I know I've been sleeping, okay not well, but I definitely have not been up for four days straight."

"Your brain shows all the signs of severe sleep deprivation. There are a few strange readings however, some that will require further tests. Your hippocampus - the memory centre of the brain - is overactive. That's not consistent with a lack of sleep."

"So what does that mean?"

"I'm not sure. Your nightmares - how much of them do you remember?"

"Only bits and pieces. Not enough to write a story about it."

"Can you describe the parts you do remember?"

"Is that really necessary?"

"It could help me determine what's going on."

"Okay. The dreams always end with the captain and I dying. We're on a planet, things go wrong, and we end up being hunted for sport."

"Hunted by whom?"

"I don't know; I can't remember their faces, only that they have piercing green eyes, maybe something else. They have a leader. He's always the executioner."

"And it's been the exact same every night?"

"Well, not the exact same. We die in different ways because we do different things leading up to the event. One thing I've noticed is how some things seem to be the same. I always knock over the same items from my nightstand, and I was so convinced today that Neelix had served that same purple...substance yesterday that I was honestly surprised when he said he hadn't. I'm also fairly certain people have been telling me I look like hell for the last few days. So...am I going crazy?"

"As I said, I'll need to perform more tests. In the meantime, I want to give you a light sedative. You'll need to stay here."

TBC…


	7. Chapter 7

_See the first chapter for disclaimer and notes._

_A/N: If anyone read this before the second post, apologies. I forgot to delete an old line. Thankies QS, again :)  
_

Chapter 7

Some hours later, Chakotay woke up. He still felt slightly tired, but he definitely felt a lot better than before. Inspecting his surroundings, he realised he was still in Sickbay.

"Ah, Commander, you've decided to rejoin us," came the cheerful remark from the doctor as he moved over to the biobed with a tricorder in hand.

"Doctor, how long have I been out?" Chakotay asked as he sat up and threw his legs over the side of the biobed.

"You've been asleep for approximately ten hours. How do you feel?"

The doctor opened his tricorder and began scanning him.

"Strangely, a lot better."

"Hmm, a good night's sleep was all that was required. Your readings have almost returned to normal. I'm going to give you another mild sedative when you retire later on. I'll send it to your replicator. Be sure to use it."

"What did you find in your tests?"

"There are some anomalous readings coming from your neural pathways, but they are returning to normal. Sleep has helped stabilise them somewhat, but I can't be too sure about what's going to happen. I'll be monitoring you with a cortical monitor for the next few days until I can determine the situation."

"Do you have any reason for this?"

"Voyager was hit by a stray strand from an electrically charged nebula we passed earlier this morning. No damage was reported."

"I remember glancing at the report while reading my messages. Why is that relevant?"

"The strand hit almost directly on your quarters. One thing I have only noticed recently is that the planet we're currently orbiting is emitting strange signals. The readings I took from you earlier were a match for the planet's signals."

Chakotay looked at the doctor, puzzled.

"We're in orbit of a planet? Our scans showed no signs of any habitable or mineral rich planets in this sector."

"That is correct. However, this planet was cloaked. It only appeared when we were almost right on top of it."

Chakotay couldn't help but get a bad feeling in his gut.

"What's the name of the planet?"

"Exoran. The captain called a meeting among the senior staff about an hour ago to discuss trading with them. I believe you were on rotation to take part in the next trade mission but I informed the captain you were unfit for duty. She's leading an away team consisting of Lieutenants Paris and Ayala, as well as Ensign Meyer, to the surface to negotiate for supplies."

Chakotay's face had dropped in this instance, and the doctor noticed.

"Commander, are you all right?"

"You said I was out for ten hours?" The doctor nodded at his question. "Has the away team already gone to the planet?"

"Yes, they would have left around fifteen minutes ago."

Chakotay curled his hand into a fist and shook his head. "Damn it. We have to get them back."

He moved to get up, but the doctor halted his progress.

"Commander, maybe I didn't make myself clear, but I want you off duty until tomorrow morning."

"No offence, Doctor, but I seriously believe the away team is in danger. I can't rest knowing this may be the case. You can follow me to the Bridge if you want, but I am going there, and that's the end of it."

"Is this in any way connected to the dreams you've been experiencing?"

"I somehow believe it is."

The doctor looked at him with uncertainty, but Chakotay continued to get to his feet without any resistance.

"Alright, but Commander?"

He stopped and turned to face him. The doctor had a cortical monitor in his hand.

"I'll monitor you from here," he said as he attached the device to Chakotay's neck. "If there is a crisis, I'll refrain from stopping you, but I want you off duty for twenty four hours afterward."

He nodded, "Consider it a deal."

* * *

"Report," Chakotay called out as he arrived on the Bridge.

Tuvok stood from the captain's chair to greet him. "Commander, all systems are functioning normally. We are currently in orbit of Exoran and have assembled an away team..."

"Yes, I know," Chakotay responded. "The doctor brought me up to speed on our current situation. What is the status of the away team?"

"They left the ship approximately twenty two minutes ago and are not due to report in until the hour. Although I am pleased to see you recovered, I must say, I am surprised to see you here, as the doctor informed us you would be off duty until tomorrow."

He tapped next to the cortical monitor on his neck. "The doctor and I have an agreement as I had some concerns about the mission. Can you contact the away team presently?"

"Our sensors have indicated no difference in communication. Ensign Kim also has a transporter lock on each member of the team should there be a need to beam them out."

"Tuvok, can you just indulge me here for a second?" At the Vulcan's nod, Chakotay continued. "Have you tried actually contacting them?"

"Negative, Commander. There was no reason to attempt to do so. After speaking to Captain Janeway shortly after their arrival, as well as detecting no signs of interference..."

Exasperated, Chakotay once again cut him off. "Okay, I get the point. Harry, can you send a request communication to the away team?"

Harry entered some commands into his console. "Communication sent, Commander."

After waiting a few moments for a response and not getting one, Chakotay raised his hand to his commbadge.

"Voyager to away team, come in."

After a few more moments of silence, he tried again.

"Voyager to away team, please respond."

When he was met with silence once more, he instantly turned to Harry.

"Ensign..."

"Sir, I'm detecting a large amount of seismic activity coming from the planet."

"Beam the away team out of there immediately!"

"Sir, I don't understand it, but I've lost their signals."

"Well find a way to get them back."

Harry continued inputting commands on his console before getting a continuous bleep.

"Commander, we're getting an incoming communication from the planet."

Chakotay turned around to face the viewscreen. "On screen."

A single figure appeared, but it wasn't one they had hoped for. The transmission was hazy with some occasional glitches as the man spoke, "Commander Chakotay?"

"That's right," Chakotay responded, instantly suspicious of the current development.

"I am Benarin, Trade Minister of Exoran. I hate to be the one to inform you, but there's just been a very serious event on our planet - the seismic activity?"

"Yes, we detected it on our sensors. Our away team?"

"We are not fully sure. It caused structural damage to the majority of our town, including the building in which our trade meeting was being held. Your away team were unfortunately caught in the collapsing structures. Captain Janeway was nearer to the exit but still trapped. She informed me to contact you directly to ask you to send down medical assistance. Our own medical service is overrun as it is, and communications have been damaged."

Chakotay processed what he had been told but found flaws in the statement.

"Commander, shall I organise more teams?" Harry asked.

"Negative Ensign." The crew seemed taken back by his response but he continued, "Minister, why would Captain Janeway have told you to contact me? The last information she would have known is that I was unconscious and off duty for medical reasons."

He could see Benarin was at a loss for words, so he pressed on with his interrogation.

"Secondly, why were our communications down before the event? We tried to contact our team only to find that we couldn't. Can you explain that?"

Benarin was now fidgeting on screen and looking slightly nervous.

"Well, sometimes our communications can drop before..."

Chakotay had enough. "Save it. I believe you're lying to me. What's really going on?"

"It's alright Benarin," a deep, calm voice came from off screen.

"My apologies," Benarin said before he bowed and moved off screen. A masked figure replaced him, showing only his dark green, menacing eyes. Chakotay felt an unpleasant recognition come over him instantly.

"Commander Chakotay, how is it that you manage to figure us out?"

"Figure you out? And you would be...?"

"I am Zelam, Prime Minister of Exoran. At this moment in time I'm also known as the one who decides the fate of your fellow officers," he said smugly. "You can have them back safe and sound, or, they can die slowly, and you can all have the privilege of watching. I think I'll start with your captain. I'd say she'll be the most fun to break out of the group. What do you think, Commander?"

Chakotay forced himself to remain calm as he responded, "What do you want?"

"Straight to the point, I like that!" Zelam replied with amusement in his voice. "Quite simply, we want your transporter technology."

"Well, you can't have it." Chakotay observed the light from Zelam's eyes turn to frustration. "I'm quite sure you had a similar conversation with Captain Janeway, and I'm sure she told you the reasons behind it."

"Yes, something about a 'Prime Directive' and so on," he replied as he threw his arm up to emphasise his boredom with the subject. "She did say I would get a similar response from anyone on Voyager and that no one would budge on it. So what if I told you I had a very powerful weapon aimed at your vessel right now, and that I'm quite willing to shoot you out of the sky to see what we can salvage?"

"I'd say it wouldn't do you much good. You may get a few small parts, but nothing as sophisticated as a working transporter module."

Chakotay could see Zelam was beginning to lose his composure.

"Right, fine. Have it your way." He then gestured to a presence off screen, "Kill them."

Faint sounds of struggling and slight cries could be heard on the Bridge as Zelam watched past the screen. He soon refocused on Voyager.

"Just so you know, Commander, this..." he paused as he moved the screen around to reveal the bloodied bodies of the away team. As the Bridge crew took in the sight with stunned silence, Zelam moved back on screen. "...is all of your doing." He continued to move over to the bodies and knelt down beside them. He stroked Kathryn's pale face as he focused on Chakotay. "What's about to happen next is also all on you," he announced in a cold, flat tone.

Chakotay continued to stare intensely at Zelam.

"Sir," Harry began, his voice momentarily breaking the tension between the two. "I'm detecting a large energy blast headed straight towards us."

"Full power to the shields! Evasive manoeuvres!" Chakotay ordered. He directed his attention once more to Zelam. "It won't matter, will it?"

Even though not visible, it was clear Zelam was grinning. "Let's try again, anyway."

Zelam's last words were the last spoken as Voyager was hit by the blast. Consoles instantly exploded, and the ship rocked violently. Chakotay was sent flying into one of the handrails and knew of nothing else as he lost consciousness immediately.

TBC...


	8. Chapter 8

_See the first chapter for disclaimer and notes._

Chapter 8

Chakotay slowly awoke and frowned. He could see he was in his quarters, in his bed, but with no sure answer as to how he'd gotten there. He had thought Voyager was in a fire fight, but if that was true, he knew the red alert system would be activated, and he certainly wouldn't be waking up to a calm environment. He wished he could clearly remember his dream, but the details seemed to elude him for the time being. He sighed, sat up and threw his legs over the edge of the bed. Just as he was about to stand up, his foot hit the edge of something hard. When he looked down, he saw the book he was currently reading and instantly spun his head around to the table opposite his bed.

In that moment, he was so sure he had moved all the fallen items to the table, but he couldn't be sure why. Suddenly, he was inundated with violent images of Kathryn being killed over and over again. Chakotay was so overwhelmed by the force of how realistic they felt, he nearly fell to the floor.

Upon regaining his composure, he quickly called out, "Computer, locate Captain Janeway."

"Captain Janeway is in her quarters."

Chakotay couldn't help but feel he was beginning to lose his mind. He rubbed his hands over his face and took a deep breath.

"Computer, what time is it?"

"0538 hours."

He felt slightly tired, but nothing too significant. He made a mental note to get an early night later on and maybe see the doctor if things persisted. He looked at the items on the floor once more. Shaking his head, he got up and headed to his washroom to get ready for his shift.

* * *

Stopping by the Mess Hall for breakfast, Chakotay was greeted warmly by Neelix. He acknowledged him but was still lost in thought from what had happened in his quarters earlier on. Accepting the Talaxian's offerings without really paying attention, he turned to find a place to sit down. B'Elanna had seen him before he realised it and she was already motioning him to join her along with Tom and Harry.

"Good morning, Chakotay," she said to him as he sat down.

"Morning, B'Elanna."

The others gave their morning greetings and Chakotay responded in turn before absentmindedly poking at his food with his spoon.

"Is there anything wrong? You seem a bit...distant," she inquired.

"I don't know. Something feels wrong about today," he answered.

"What do you mean?" Tom asked.

"Again, I don't know. Just to me, there's something out of place about this day. You could put it down to the nightmares I've been having, if that's what they are, or..." Chakotay paused as he finally looked at his breakfast and saw the purple substance.

"Or?" Harry prodded.

"Did we not have this yesterday?" Chakotay countered and pushed his tray away. At the shaking of heads, he sat back, puzzled. "Are you sure?"

"We had some sort of egg thing yesterday. I only remember because they were quite sticky," Tom replied.

"He only remembered because he got it all over himself like a child," B'Elanna added.

Tom grinned at the memory before continuing. "Anyway, Chakotay, do you think you're experiencing déjà vu?"

Chakotay contemplated what he had just said.

"It certainly does seem that way. The dreams, the items on the floor, breakfast and even my schedule for today. I feel like I've done all this before."

"What's on your schedule?" Tom asked.

Chakotay shrugged. "Nothing unusual; just appointments with the crew. They'll take up most of my day, if not all."

"What happens after that?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe I have to wait closer to the time to see if something is familiar," he replied while looking at the chronometer. "I better go. I have a busy day to prepare for."

* * *

Arriving on the Bridge, Chakotay nodded to Tuvok before continuing around to his chair. He could see Kathryn was busy reading a PADD and had a few more beside her, along with an empty coffee cup. He felt instantly relieved to see her but let nothing betray his relief. She looked up when she heard him sit down.

"Good morning, Commander," she said with a smile.

"Good morning, Captain," he returned cheerfully as he began accessing the console beside him. "I'm just checking in. I'll be busy in my office with appointments for the rest of the day."

He then leaned over the console.

"I was also wondering if you'd like to have dinner later?"

"Sure, your quarters or mine?" she asked as she put down her PADD.

"I actually want to eat tonight, so mine. 1900 hours."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear the start of that sentence, Commander," she replied in a low but playful tone.

Chakotay laughed and stood up. "I'll see you later."

She nodded in response with a smile and resumed her work while he headed for the turbolift.

* * *

Several hours later, he was still in his office, having been delayed by several of the crew's complaining rants. He was now stuck listening to Ensign Taylor complain. She may have been the last on his list, but she certainly knew how to persist about things. He was certainly not experiencing déjà vu at this point in time.

"Senior staff report to the Conference Room," came Kathryn's voice over the comm.

Chakotay halted Taylor mid sentence, who clearly hadn't even heard the announcement, so he could respond.

He tapped his commbadge. "Chakotay to Janeway."

"Go ahead, Commander."

"I'll be right there. I'm just finishing up a meeting now."

"Acknowledged. Janeway out."

He turned his attention back to Taylor. "Ensign, I'm sorry but we'll have to leave it there."

After rescheduling with her he made his way to the Conference Room, silently thanking Kathryn for giving him that reprieve.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Chakotay was standing in a turbolift with Kathryn on his way to the Transporter Room. When he heard the details of the trade mission, it finally clicked, and he suddenly realised he knew everything about what was going on; the planet, the trap, the failed escape - he remembered it all. He spent the rest of the briefing rooted to his chair, lost in thought of his newfound knowledge. He was so completely immersed, he only realised the meeting was over when Kathryn caught his attention to tell him. He now noticed Kathryn was watching him with concern.

"Chakotay, are you sure you're all right? You haven't said two words since the start of the briefing."

"I'm fine," he responded with a light smile. "It's just been a really long day."

Kathryn eyed him carefully but then appeared to relax slightly. As the turbolift doors opened they both walked out and headed to the Transporter Room. Chakotay thought about the situation. He had concluded that his dreams were actually memories of the same day being repeated over and over again, that it was somehow being caused by the Exorans and that it started with the incident in the nebula. All the signs were there and the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. The Exorans wanted their transporter technology and they had the means to not give up until they got what they wanted. No wonder Zelam always seemed so smug.

Kathryn turned to him. "I'm sorry about our plans by the way. If we finish up here quickly, we can still have a late dinner if that's okay with you?"

When the Transporter Room doors opened, Chakotay spotted Ayala and Meyer. He knew what he had to do.

"I look forward to it but there is something you should know and you'll have to trust me on it."

TBC…


	9. Chapter 9

_See the first chapter for disclaimer and notes._

Chapter 9

After agreeing to a series of medical exams if he was wrong, it wasn't long before Chakotay found himself in the hall with the four doors, columns, tables and the hooded figures. He had briefly scanned the room with his tricorder to see if he could establish what his plan would be, but for the moment he was coming up dry. He didn't like the idea of not being prepared, but for now he would just have to make do. He thought back to the end of his long conversation with Kathryn before they left.

"_Alright, let's say I believe this is a repeating time loop. You're telling me the only way out of this is to walk into the trap with your only idea being to somehow find and then disable systems we know nothing about?" Kathryn asked incredulously._

"_That sounds about right," Chakotay replied._

"_The whole thing sounds unbelievable. We didn't detect anything out of the ordinary. Why don't we just have the meeting on Voyager or leave if it's going to be this dangerous?" _

"_The Exorans have been playing a smoke and mirrors game with us since we encountered them. Nothing we try from Voyager will work because we won't know what to believe. They won't let us leave either. All they'll do is reset the loop and I'll be standing here again trying to convince you to go ahead with this mission - and __that's if I remember. __Stopping them in their territory, however that may be, will be the only way out of this. I know it. Kathryn, I wouldn't make this up."_

_After a brief silence she sighed and met his gaze. "I know."_

"_We need to go ahead with the trade mission as if nothing's wrong. I don't know how it will play out exactly, but you'll know when things are about to take a turn for the worse."_

The instant Zelam unveiled himself, Chakotay felt his blood boil. He knew Zelam was responsible for all this, that he made all the decisions and he knew Zelam would draw his weapon and fire the moment Kathryn refused him the transporter technology. Chakotay kept his hand near his phaser and his gaze transfixed on Zelam as he watched the story unfold.

"I've already told you, Minister, I cannot trade you our technology," Kathryn stated firmly.

"So you won't agree to trade your transporter technology and star charts for everything that you require on your list and more?" Zelam queried with exasperation evident in his voice.

"Minister, that's not an option, and if that's the only one you have then we have nothing more to discuss," Kathryn stated, as she moved to turn to walk out the door.

Chakotay saw it happen almost in slow motion. Zelam was in the process of reaching for his weapon when Chakotay drew his and pointed it straight at him.

"Don't even think about it," he called out to Zelam. "Drop it."

The others stopped, turned and observed the scene. They saw Zelam with a weapon in one hand and the other raised above his head. With a grin, he slowly threw it to the ground in front of him and raised that hand as well. The team immediately took out their phasers.

"So, Commander, remembering a bit more than you should?" Zelam asked arrogantly.

Chakotay remained silent and simply stared him down.

"Minister, we're leaving, and that's final," Kathryn said.

"I'm sorry, my dear Captain, but you won't be doing anything of the sort," Zelam said with malice lacing his voice.

Suddenly, the two doors opposite the away team burst open and several armed guards entered the room. Chakotay fired at one of the beams directly above Zelam's table before turning and running for Kathryn, who had already begun running with the away team. He grabbed her and quickly ran through the exit in front of her with various shots now firing from both sides. They made their way out of the hall with Ayala and Meyer taking up the rear and providing cover fire as they fled outdoors. They could see the sun was setting, and the light was fading as nightfall was beginning to take hold. After running though various streets, they eventually took cover behind a building wall in a dark alley. They cautiously looked around as they watched a few guards running past their location, shouting at one another. When it was clear, they each tried their commbadges quietly but were all met with silence.

Kathryn spoke first, her voice sounding slightly anxious. "You were right, Commander. It appears they have some sort of device that's disrupting communications."

She took out her tricorder and tried to scan the area but kept on getting mixed readings. The others tried with no success and simply shook their heads. Sighing, she continued, "Come on, we have to keep moving. We should head towards higher ground to evade them. The altitude…"

As Kathryn continued on, Chakotay suddenly realised he had experienced a variation of this situation before. He quickly interfered.

"Captain, we've done this before, and I know increasing our altitude is the wrong decision. They have the entire jungle under surveillance and will know every move we make."

"Okay, Commander, what do you suggest?"

"We need to stay in town. I know this is where we need to be to find what's blocking our technology and disable it."

Chakotay began moving away from the team in various directions with his tricorder open.

Kathryn looked at him sceptically and followed. "How do you propose we implement your plan? We don't know where to look, we don't know if we're surrounded, our tricorders are useless and our phasers have been partially drained from our last encounter with the Exorans."

He stopped scanning and turned to her.

"Since they wanted our transporter technology, I would guess most or perhaps all of the technology the Exorans possess is not their own. Cloaking is a more difficult concept than transporting, yet they can cloak their entire planet no problem. As a result of their incompatibilities, I'd say they can't risk using their disrupting ability near where their main control systems are stored in case it interferes. Our tricorders worked fine back in the hall. I'm willing to bet our technology will work better as we get nearer to the power source, and I'd say that hall is near to it."

"That's still a risky assumption you're making; you could be wrong."

He showed her his tricorder readings, which had stabilised slightly.

"I know I've asked a lot of you already, but you have to continue to trust me."

Chakotay could see she was thinking it over in her head as it was her decision, after all, but it didn't take her long to decide. She looked at him with determination.

"Alright, we're going back in."

* * *

With the streets now illuminated by clear lights, the away team continued on through the adjoining dark alleys, following the strength of the tricorder readings. They passed the building they had been in for the trade discussions; the entire area was now completely deserted. Eventually arriving at what they believed to be the complex containing the main Exoran systems, the team stopped behind a dark, concealed area and examined their equipment. While their commbadges still seemed to be malfunctioning, their tricorders appeared to be working correctly. Unfortunately, none liked what they saw. In whispered voices, they discussed their situation.

"There's got to be about fifty of them in there!" Ayala exclaimed.

"Yet there's more than a hundred of them out there," Meyer said after scanning the opposite direction. "They're not making a move to come back in this direction, either. How can they not know where we are?"

"They might not think we're this daring?" Ayala replied sarcastically.

Chakotay simply gave them a look before returning to his scans.

Kathryn turned to them. "There are four entrances, one on each side. My readings show there may be a way in at the south entrance as there are less guards in that area. The main control room is directly in the centre of the facility, so whichever side we enter from is irrelevant. The main issue is that, once inside, it will be difficult to defend since it's accessible from several points. Then take into account base security, program security, translation problems, and of course the fact that we probably will end up having a showdown with fifty or so angered Exorans who will no doubt call for backup once they realise they have intruders."

"So, just another day in the Delta Quadrant?" Chakotay asked.

"I'm thinking I'd take Neelix's better than coffee solution over this," Kathryn replied with a sigh. "Can you all confirm my readings?"

They all checked their tricorders and nodded.

"Does anyone have a better idea?"

"What about Voyager?" Ayala queried. "When the check in time passes and they don't hear from us, they'll know something is wrong."

Chakotay shook his head. "When that happens, they'll realise they can't communicate with us or transport us out. However, Tuvok was ordered not to make or accept any communication with the Exorans. He wasn't happy, as far as Vulcans go, about not being told the reason why. When he finds out, I'll be ecstatic to hear about it later."

"It won't just be you receiving a lecture," Kathryn added.

"Why didn't you tell Tuvok more of what to expect?" Ayala continued.

Chakotay closed his tricorder. "Everything needs to be as normal as possible. At the moment, the Exorans think we're just reacting to the current situation. If Voyager was behaving strangely, it would give us away. Think about it. Our current plan is working now but only because we haven't tried this before. We don't need anything that will tip the situation in their favour. If the Exorans can make Voyager see what they want them to believe, Voyager is of no use to us. What's frightening is the Exorans could try anything and for as long as they needed."

Kathryn was slightly nodding at what Chakotay was saying, and he could see she was annoyed, most likely at having fallen into this situation. Without giving Chakotay time for further thought, she voiced her next command.

"Right gentlemen, let's move."

TBC...


	10. Chapter 10

_See the first chapter for disclaimer and notes._

Chapter 10

Four silent figures crossed through an empty, quiet compound. The grounds were poorly lit and were devoid of any form of security. Anybody just walking in would think the place was abandoned, but the team knew from their scans that they had the right building.

Arriving at the security door, Kathryn quickly linked up her tricorder to the panel beside it and began entering commands. A few moments later, the panel lit up green and the door unlatched. They went to move, but she motioned them to halt as she continued working with her tricorder before finishing and removing it.

"There was a surveillance system just inside the door. I gained access to it and set it to loop."

She was just about to open the door when Chakotay gently grabbed her arm.

"No offence, Captain, I know you want to take point, but we need an engineer to make it to that room."

She was about to argue when she realised the truth behind his statement.

"Point taken, Commander, after you. We should have a clear path to the first room directly down the corridor. There will be a few more security systems after that, but I should be able to disable them once we get there."

Chakotay slowly entered first, thankful the narrow corridors were full of light. Both walls were a light grey divided by a horizontal dark separator, whereas the floor was black and the ceiling a darker grey. He absentmindedly noted how the colour pattern accurately reflected the nature of the Exorans; cold and mysterious with their actions unperceivable by the outsider. As he quietly made his way forward he was followed by Kathryn, Ayala and then Meyer.

They could hear voices as they passed closed doors but continued on their way. Upon coming to an intersection, Chakotay was just about to continue when he heard a door open. He quickly moved backwards, bumping into Kathryn. Peering slightly around, he could see two guards had emerged from a room, but they were walking away from the away team's position. Once they disappeared from view, he continued to move forward, leading the team the rest of the way.

* * *

The first room they entered was clearly a storage area. It contained various pieces of equipment and was quite cluttered. Kathryn ordered Ayala and Meyer to secure the entrance while she negotiated her way through the vast amount of items to the access panel on the side of the wall. Chakotay had also moved to join her. She interfaced her tricorder and immediately got to work. She brought up a schematic of the complex and spoke quietly to the team.

"It looks like we'll have to follow this corridor to this room here, which will lead us to the control centre. There's of course only one problem..." Kathryn paused as she tapped a few buttons on her tricorder. It beeped, and then about twenty small red dots appeared on the display. "I can probably get them out by tripping one of their emergency systems, but it won't fool them for long."

"How long would you need to disable their systems?" Chakotay asked.

"It depends. Certainly only minutes if the security on their system is anything like what I've encountered already. I could probably do it from this access point here," Kathryn said while she pointed to an area of the screen in the north-east section of the room. "It may be near an entrance, but it is closer to the perimeter, protected on two sides, and will be our best chance of defending our position should the situation go against us."

"Agreed. When will you activate their emergency system?"

"In the next room. We'll have to find cover first since they could use it as an exit on their way out. I'm disabling the surveillance systems along our route now. We'll just have to deal with getting caught in the control centre."

Kathryn finished her work, and they continued on.

* * *

Chakotay checked the room carefully. He could hear the voices of the Exorans in the control centre that was nearby but couldn't clearly make out what they were saying. Once he established it was all clear, he signalled to the rest of the team. They entered quietly and analysed the room while Kathryn headed towards the access console.

There were two doors in the room; the one they entered from and the one that would lead to the control centre. The centre itself, separated only by a short corridor, was visible from the latter, and if they weren't careful, they themselves would be visible to anyone walking by. There were some security monitors above the console Kathryn was accessing, along with a few lockers, some chairs and a stack of crates in the far corner. Chakotay moved over to the crates and instructed Ayala and Meyer to help him to start moving them to create a space for them all to take cover behind.

The crates weren't too heavy, so each man was able to lift one on his own. They only moved enough so they would all fit behind them, but left enough in position so it wouldn't be noticed they had been moved. As soon as they were done, Ayala and Meyer took cover while Chakotay remained standing and watched Kathryn. She looked up and nodded towards him. He nodded back to her, knowing there was no turning back after this was done. She started a visible countdown on her hand from three.

It seemed like a lifetime for Chakotay in those three seconds as he watched her carefully, but once she got to one, he got ready. The atmosphere instantly changed the moment she tripped the system. The clear bright lights immediately went out and were replaced with a dull, clear lighting interchanging with red, and the near silence was now filled with a loud alarm. Kathryn was already running towards him. As she reached him, he grabbed her and pulled her down with him behind the cover.

They soon heard footsteps along with voices flooding the room. They each held their breath and kept their phasers drawn to their chests while the Exorans made their way past the unseen intruders. Eventually, the additional sounds left the room and the team believed they were alone once again. Chakotay carefully looked out. Once he did so, he quickly spotted a guard carrying a lot of equipment and instantly moved around back into cover. Listening carefully, he was able to hear when the guard left the room. He then took another chance on checking their surroundings. When it appeared to be clear, he waited a few moments to make sure they wouldn't get any more surprises. He then got up with his phaser drawn and moved away from the crates.

"We're clear," he announced to the team.

He moved forward to the control centre entrance and slowly looked around. The control centre was only about the size of one of Voyager's cargo bays with a lower ceiling, and its main feature was a flat, circular power core that glowed blue. It contained several consoles and one section in particular that contained various displays, which showed different locations in the jungle. The room seemed empty, so he gestured to Ayala to move out. Ayala took cover behind a console and scanned the room.

"Clear," he reported back.

Chakotay moved out to the far side of the room and motioned for Kathryn and Meyer to join them. As they entered the room, Kathryn took charge.

"Ayala, Meyer, barricade these two doors with anything that isn't tied down and take watch until I find a way to lock them," she ordered. They nodded and immediately got to work using anything movable to stack up against the doors.

"Commander," she continued as she went past them and headed for the console she pointed out on the schematic. Chakotay followed her.

"You'll have to barricade both doors, but I'll watch the one nearest me. I have a clear view of it, so I'll be fine to watch."

"Captain, make sure you look for and disable any temporal devices."

She simply nodded and got to work while Chakotay began blocking up both doors. Ayala and Meyer had finished and were in position behind consoles as Chakotay barricaded the door nearest Kathryn and headed to his own. When he got to the door, he heard a latch go into place, as with all the other doors.

"The doors are sealed," Kathryn called out to the room.

As Chakotay finished blocking his door, he moved into position, and suddenly, the emergency lighting was restored to its normal functioning. Almost instantly, they heard banging sounds coming from the door Meyer was watching: the one they had entered from.

"I guess they know we're here," Ayala said, wrapping his hand ever so more tightly around his phaser. "Captain?"

"They have a variety of different systems, so it's taking a while for my tricorder to recognise each one. I don't have time to fully explain now but basically I'm working on their disruption now, then their cloak, weapons and finally temporal system. I'm not sure which of the first two systems is blocking our communication with Voyager, but once I announce they're down, Commander?" She paused as she got his attention. "You're in charge of contacting the ship and getting everyone out as soon as it's possible. I'm not to be transported out of here until I get these systems down. Understood?"

"Aye, Captain," Chakotay responded. He knew that none of them would leave without her until she finished, but he figured it would be wise not to start that discussion with her now.

Suddenly, the banging stopped, and the latch sounded on the door Meyer was guarding. The door was opening bit by bit as the guards slowly shoved their way into the control centre.

"This is it, get ready!" Chakotay called out.

TBC...


	11. Chapter 11

_See the first chapter for disclaimer and notes._

Chapter 11

Three guards burst into the room firing. A shot close to Ayala caused him to duck behind his console, but Meyer was able to shoot two of them while Chakotay took out the third.

"Disruption is down!" Kathryn announced, now crouched behind her console.

Chakotay immediately reached for his commbadge.

"Chakotay to Voyager."

He was met with silence, like the result Ayala received when he tried as well.

"Let's hope it's the cloak," Kathryn noted as she continued with her work.

Two more guards were now at the doorway, firing into the room while the other three lay unconscious on the floor. All members of the away team were crouched down behind their consoles, firing blindly back towards the door purely to keep the Exorans out of the centre. Ayala finally managed to get a clear shot on one guard, hitting him in the shoulder. The firing stopped for a brief moment while, clearly, they were thinking about how to get into the room.

Suddenly, a small device rolled into the room. Ayala spotted it immediately.

"Bomb!" he cried out.

The team all dived down behind their consoles as the device exploded with a flash of light and high-pitched sound.

Since the device had been closest to Meyer, he was immediately knocked out. Kathryn got up from her position and immediately began firing when at least five guards stormed the room. She managed to hit two of them while Chakotay regained enough composure to join in and hit another guard. Ayala managed to shoot one of the guards once he had run by his position and made himself a very easy target. Kathryn shot the final intruder.

"Status?" Kathryn called to the team.

"I'm okay," Chakotay responded. "Ayala?"

"Here, sir. The flash disorientated me, but I'm starting to see straight again. Meyer is out."

"Do you think you can get to him?" Chakotay asked.

"I think so."

"Alright, I'll join you. Let's go."

Kathryn kept her phaser trained on the doorway and Chakotay moved to Ayala's position before both of them headed towards Meyer. After finding a pulse, they put an arm each under his arms, picked him up and pulled him back to Chakotay's position. Ayala remained at Chakotay's station since it was clearly too dangerous for him to return to where he was. Ayala positioned himself on the other side of the console.

"Cloak is down," Kathryn announced.

Chakotay went for his commbadge when shots started firing from the doorway once more.

"Chakotay to Voyager."

"Go ahead, Commander," Tuvok responded.

Chakotay could have smiled had he not have been occupied with shooting his intended target.

"Tuvok, it was a trap. We'll need an emergency beam out ready but only when the order is given."

"Indeed, Ensign Kim has just reported that your positions suddenly shifted to another area and you are currently surrounded by many individuals. We have also lost the transporter lock on you but are attempting to re-establish it now."

Chakotay moved and fired back. There was a brief silence before Harry came on the line.

"Ensign Kim here, sir. There's still a rotating frequency pattern that we'll have to get around. It's different from the one we had been previously monitoring, so with less time, it means we'll only be able to get you out during a certain timeframe. We should be able to get all of you out in the one go, but you'll have to hang on until then. It'll be at least ten minutes."

"Alright. Ensign, contact us if you see anything happening that we should know about."

"Acknowledged," Harry responded and closed the communication.

"Captain? Did you get all of that?" Chakotay shouted over the noise of the fight.

"Affirmative. Their weapons system is almost down," she reported back while Ayala managed to hit another guard.

Just then, the door Ayala had been watching burst open, and almost immediately, a second stream of weapons fire permeated the room. Chakotay and Ayala could really only send warning shots back to keep the guards out of the room since neither was able to get a clear view. Luckily, the enemy shots had mostly ignored Kathryn's position and a lot of them failed to realise she was even there. That was the idea, after all, since she needed the console to disable the systems. The current one Chakotay and Ayala were defending from had been broken beyond repair.

"Weapons are disabled," Kathryn called out.

Chakotay was about to alert Ayala when he almost flew back into him. Ayala's features were in a grimace, and Chakotay could see a singe mark on his right shoulder.

"Mike, are you all right?"

"Yeah, just fine," he hissed through gritted teeth. Chakotay fired another shot and then glanced at Ayala with an incredulous look.

"Really, it stings like hell, but I still have a good left arm. I'll need your position."

Chakotay moved back and Ayala took his position, checking on a still-unconscious Meyer as he moved to his new spot.

Several guards had entered the room in the brief moment they had stopped firing, but they had made themselves more visible by doing so. Ayala had already fired on two of them while Chakotay managed to eliminate the other three. The barrage of fire resumed once more from the doorways once the guards were taken out.

Chakotay tapped his commbadge.

"Chakotay to Voyager."

"Ensign Kim here."

"Harry, how much time left?"

"About five minutes, Commander."

"Acknowledged," he said as he aimed several warning shots to both doorways.

The firing didn't stop this time when another small circular device was thrown into the room.

"Bomb!" Ayala yelled once more. He and Chakotay turned back behind the console, closed their eyes and put their hands over their ears. Chakotay soon realised the expected flash didn't happen and he could soon hear a faint hissing sound. When he opened his eyes, he could see the room was starting to fill with smoke.

"Great," he said to himself. "Mike, just keep aiming and firing at the doors. We'll just have to hope we get lucky."

It wasn't long before the centre became so consumed with smoke, Chakotay couldn't even see his own hands. Regardless, he kept firing his phaser every few seconds. The shots he received back told him he was at least annoying a few of the guards. At one point he thought he heard a cry, but a phaser shot just missing his head quickly dispelled the thought.

Eventually the smoke began to dissipate, thanks to the room's environmental systems. Soon, the area became visible once more, but the sight was less than hopeful. The centre was now filled with guards equipped with shields and heavy weaponry. They were standing in two rows from both exposed entrances. Ayala saw it first. He quickly pulled at Chakotay's arm, which immediately broke his attention on their new company. Chakotay followed Ayala's line of vision to Kathryn's position and was shocked by what he saw.

Kathryn was now standing, a blade protruding from her abdomen with the handle of the weapon still wrapped by the hand of none other than Zelam.

"How lovely to see you again, really..." he exclaimed in a menacing tone as he twisted the blade in Kathryn, causing her to cry out.

Chakotay was angry. He could feel the rage bubbling beneath his calm exterior, but he made sure he kept himself in check while he rationally thought out the situation. Zelam was standing behind Kathryn as she was slightly hunched over the console in front of her while bracing her hands against it to keep herself steady. Chakotay noted there was nothing but open space between their two positions, so even if one of the guards missed, the other twenty or so would definitely be able to get a shot on him if he tried to dash to Kathryn. He couldn't get a clear aim on Zelam from his position; the only way would be for him to put himself in the line of fire.

"Did you miss me?" Zelam said with a smile. "I know I missed you, and honestly we never believed you would have the gall to stay here and sabotage us!"

"What do you want, Zelam?" Chakotay spat.

"Throw down your weapons and come out with your hands up," Zelam demanded while he raised his weapon with his other hand and pointed it directly at their position.

Chakotay glanced at Kathryn and could see she was still subtly entering commands into the console despite her condition. Zelam was clearly too focused on his power trip over them to notice, so Chakotay decided to go with the situation to try and drag out as much time as possible. He threw down his weapon towards Zelam and slowly exited from his cover position with his hands raised. Ayala followed his lead but remained where he was. Chakotay then took a few steps forward to make sure the guards would keep their focus on him and not what Kathryn was doing.

"That's enough; you can stop right there."

Zelam then looked over to the guards.

"Send in the control team to figure out and repair what they've done."

Moments later, four Exorans entered the room and began checking the various stations. Zelam was watching what they were doing with impatience growing on his features as Chakotay kept his attention on Kathryn. She looked up at him for the first time.

"It's done," she said quietly when she entered her last command in on the console. Suddenly, the main power core turned red, alarms filled the room and several forcefields materialised. The room was now divided into quarters around the core with the Exorans in one half, Ayala and Meyer in another section and Chakotay, Kathryn and Zelam in the other. The guards immediately opened fire, but their shots were blocked by the forcefield.

Kathryn had managed to knock Zelam's phaser from his hand and Chakotay took the opportunity to go and pick up his phaser. Zelam quickly regained control over her by grabbing the handle of the blade and pulling the weapon from her. Kathryn cried out in pain as she fell against the console. Zelam soon pulled her flush against him. He wrapped his hands around her body and raised the bloody blade to her throat. Chakotay now had his phaser pointed directly at them.

"What the hell happened?" Zelam nearly screamed to the team.

"Sir, the entire system is down. I don't know how they managed to do it," one of them called back while checking one of the panels. "The room is designed to put protective fields in place for the operators in case the system was to ever breach. In this case, the system was overloaded, so it thought it was going to breach and shutdown."

"Get it back online immediately!" Zelam ordered.

"Sir, we can get the system back online, but it will be a few days."

Zelam was clearly seething with what he had just been told. He quickly turned around and focused his attention back on Chakotay.

"It's over, Zelam. Drop your weapon and we'll be on our way," Chakotay said.

"Voyager to away team," Harry interrupted.

"Go ahead Ensign," Chakotay replied, never once taking his eyes away from Zelam.

"Sir, we'll be able to get you out of there in about one to two minutes. Shall I go ahead and transport?"

"Affirmative. Beam us directly to Sickbay and have the doctor on standby. Once we're aboard, get us away from this planet, maximum warp."

"Understood. Voyager out."

"You drop your weapon Commander," Zelam countered while removing Kathryn's commbadge, throwing it at Chakotay and then pressing the blade further into her neck.

Chakotay took her commbadge in hand and remained in position, not moving one muscle.

"Shoot him," Kathryn demanded.

"Now, now," Zelam exclaimed as grabbed at her injury, causing her to grit her teeth. "Don't be giving him ideas." He glanced up again at Chakotay. "Drop your weapon, Commander."

Chakotay paused and dropped his weapon to his side.

He could see Zelam grin and the disappointment set in on Kathryn's face from his action. He didn't let the feeling last for either of them as he tapped at the settings on his phaser and raised his weapon.

"Not this time, Zelam. I'm not playing your game anymore. My phaser is set to kill, and I will use it within the next ten seconds. You and I both know the captain is willing to die. The question is...are you?"

Chakotay could see Zelam's resolve was beginning to slip while the seconds passed. As soon as he moved the blade slightly down from Kathryn's throat, she suddenly fell into Zelam's arm and away from the blade. Chakotay didn't even think and immediately fired his phaser. The blast caught Zelam directly in his chest. He screamed out in pain and collapsed to the ground, taking Kathryn with him. Chakotay rushed forward to their position while the angry cries of the guards echoed the alarms that were still sounding.

Once he rounded the console, he fell down onto his knees when he reached Kathryn. Zelam's empty eyes told him what he wanted to know as he moved Kathryn away from Zelam's grasp and placed her commbadge back on her uniform. He checked her neck to only find a small trickle of blood before placing his hands on her entry and exit wounds to try to stem the blood flow.

Kathryn moaned slightly at the new pressure being added to her injuries. She glanced to her left before looking back up at Chakotay.

"Nice aim," she said weakly.

"Hey, save your strength. We're going to be out of here in less than a minute, and then you'll be in the doctor's good hands."

Kathryn's eyes were beginning to close, and Chakotay noticed.

"Kathryn, you have to stay with me until then. No trying to get out of that dinner you promised me."

"Never," she said as she smiled briefly.

He could see she was trying to fight to stay conscious, but her will was failing, and she was slowly slipping away.

"Do I have to make that an order?"

"Can't...order me...Mister..."

Chakotay then felt the transporter beam take him and Exoran was soon to become a distant memory.

TBC…


	12. Chapter 12

_See the first chapter for disclaimer and notes._

Chapter 12

As they all materialised in Sickbay, Chakotay quickly picked up Kathryn and moved her onto the main biobed. The doctor immediately began his work and Tom moved Chakotay back from the surgical bay.

"You know she's in good hands," Tom stated. At Chakotay's nod, he continued, "Now are you injured?"

Chakotay glanced at his hands and shook his head while he wiped his hands in his uniform.

"Alright, well Sam will still check you over," Tom replied before moving to assist the doctor.

Chakotay glanced over to the other two biobeds and saw Sam was currently attending to Ayala's shoulder, who was in turn talking to a now-conscious Meyer.

When Chakotay walked over, he caught the end of their conversation.

"...so, essentially, you did miss the entire thing," Ayala concluded.

"How are you doing, Ensign?" Chakotay asked.

"Better now, sir. Ensign Wildman has given me an analgesic until the doctor can give me a full check-up just to be sure. Lieutenant Ayala tells me I started regaining consciousness when the forcefields went up, but I don't remember much. I'm sorry I wasn't of any more help down there."

"Don't worry about it. We made it back." Chakotay turned to Ayala. "Mike, how's the shoulder?"

"Fine - call it the wonder of painkillers. How's the captain?"

Chakotay glanced over to the surgical bay. There were now several medical devices attached to Kathryn. The doctor worked frantically over her while calling out a series of commands to Tom.

"She lost a lot of blood down there..." he replied. He then looked back to them. "But you know the captain. She won't give up without a fight."

* * *

Chakotay awoke some hours later feeling rather uncomfortable. When he looked around, he realised he was in Sickbay on one of the biobeds and the doctor was headed towards him.

"The captain?" Chakotay said and he tried to sit up, still feeling quite groggy.

The doctor gently pushed him back down on the biobed.

"Take it easy. She's going to be fine. In fact, she should regain consciousness within the hour."

Chakotay's mind began to clear as he thought back to the previous night while the doctor began scanning him with a tricorder. He stayed in Sickbay during the several hours it took to complete the operation and had only left briefly to get cleaned up. He wanted to erase as much of what had happened down on Exoran as possible. During the operation, he felt tired and on the verge of sleep, but he forced himself to stay awake. He had to make sure Kathryn was going to be okay. The moment the doctor finished, he assured them she would make a full recovery before attending to the rest of the team and ordering them to take the next twenty-four hours off duty. He vaguely remembered a hypospray.

"There was something more in that hypospray than just a nutritional supplement, wasn't there?"

"A light sedative. You looked like you needed it, and I had to keep you here to perform some tests. There were anomalous readings showing up during a brain scan, but they decreased and ceased to exist earlier in the night. They are no longer present in you, and I can't explain them since there's nothing conclusive for me to examine. At this moment, you are completely fine. I would, however, like to monitor you for the next forty-eight hours with a cortical monitor just to be sure."

Chakotay simply nodded and rubbed his eyes. He slowly sat up and saw Ayala and Meyer were no longer in Sickbay.

"I released Lieutenant Ayala last night and Ensign Meyer around 0900 this morning, which was just over an hour ago. Both are fully recovered."

"Good to hear. Doctor, about those scans..."

Chakotay then decided to tell to doctor everything that had happened.

* * *

"So that's it. I would say it was triggered by the incident with the nebula this morning. In a previous loop, you told me there was a connection between the readings you found in me and the signals the planet was emitting."

"Did the Exorans remember the loops?"

"Yes, definitely. It seems like they would try scenario after scenario until they got what they wanted. It's frightening to think how long they could have held us captive without us knowing about it."

"It would appear we lost about a week. We received our monthly transmission from Starfleet this morning dated six days from our previous time, if that makes sense."

Just then, a few beeps sounded on a monitor next to where Kathryn was resting.

"It sounds like our captain will be back with us shortly," the doctor announced.

They both moved over towards the biobed and the doctor began taking scans. Chakotay took the time to observe Kathryn slowly made her way back to the living. While he watched and he could see her breathing change as she became more aware. The rise and fall of her chest was happening more frequently, and her eyes were shifting under her eyelids. He leaned in towards her ear.

"Captain?" he called gently to her.

She frowned and turned her head away.

"Kathryn?" he tried again.

She slowly opened her eyes and turned her head back to focus on him. Her grimace showed she was still suffering from her experience.

"Captain, welcome back," the doctor said cheerfully while he injected a hypospray into her neck. "That should help alleviate any discomfort you're feeling. I shouldn't have to tell you about the consequences of getting yourself into dangerous situations, but I'll reserve my lecture for when you're better rested. Commander, please keep it brief."

The Doctor then moved into his office to analyse the readings he'd taken.

"Care to bail me out before then?" Kathryn asked.

"I'm afraid not. I can't order him around, either," Chakotay responded lightly before changing to a more serious tone. "How are you?"

"About as you might expect from someone who 'got herself into a dangerous situation'."

At his look, she continued with a sigh. "Alright, I'm sore and I don't want to try sitting up anytime soon. How's everyone else?"

"The rest of the team are fine but have the day off, and the captain has three days from the moment she can seriously order the doctor to release her from her cell."

"I don't need three days..." she began.

"Yes, you do," he said, immediately cutting her off. "You were more seriously injured than the rest of us. To make up for it, I will treat you to dinner on all three days, provided you take it easy. I'll be checking to make sure you don't try and sneak any reports and believe me, I have my sources. If I hear you did manage to read one word of any report, I will leave Neelix to be your personal chef, and I hear he has plenty of leola root."

She was grinning at him at this stage. "I'll be good, I promise."

She reached out for his hand, and he took it in his. She paused and took a few moments before continuing.

"If I hadn't listened to you, we'd still be stuck in that loop. I would have led you all to death over and over again."

He squeezed her hand reassuringly. "I just pointed you in the right direction. You got us out of there in the end."

"I'd like to know what happened in the other loops."

He nodded. "I'll tell you over dinner."

* * *

End Notes:

- So that's it :) I'd like to thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed the story.

- I'd like to thank quantumsilver again for continuing to do beta duties for me while the story was being published. She really put up with a lot lol

- I'll also say thanks to my friends, MiloFoxburr and Satoho, for doing an inital read and pointing out parts that didn't work. They were changed before being beta'ed. Satoho also gave me Zelam's name by translating the word 'darkness' to Arabic for me ;)


End file.
